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THE EVENT ON WHICH THE
GREAT CIVIL WAR HINGED

AN UNWRITTEN CHAPTER
Relating to Abraham Lincoln and Jesus Christ-

BY A. P. HUTCHISON

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"There shall come a star out of Jacob and a scepter
shall rise out of Israel and shall smite the corners
of Moab and destroy all the children of Sheth."

PRICE 10 CENTS

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To my wife who is "passing under the rod"
whose weary feet can no longer run on errands
for her Lord and King, whose willing hands
can no longer minister to Him and His, and
whose ready tongue can no longer speak or
plead for His crown right; THE UNWRITTEN
CHAPTER is affectionately dedicated.

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in 2010 with funding from

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An Unwritten Chapter

RELATING TO

yibraham Lincoln and Jesus Christ, or the

Event on Whtch the Great Civil

War Hinged.

CHAPTER I.

A NEW MOULDED NATION.
A Corn of Wheat Which Fell Into the Ground and Died.

In the American Conflict, Horace Greeley, says:

"Perhaps the very darkest days that the Republic ever
saw, were the ten which just preceded the 4th of July,
1863; when our oft-beaten Army was moving northward
to cover Washington and Baltimore."

And surely the Republic never saw brighter days
than the days which succeeded those ten, beginning
with our 87th Independence Day. In three brief
days the whole aspect of our struggle for the Union
had changed.

Were you asked, on what did the Great Civil War
hinge, what would you say ? Wrould you say as a
college, professor deep learned in the Scriptures
said? r"I always supposed that the turning point of
the war was the Emancipation Proclamation."

PAGE TWO

Would you say with George R. Wendling that the
whole war hinged on Stonewall Jackson? In his
lecture on that remarkable character, Mr. Wendling
argues, — that there were two distinct civilizations
in the American nation ; — that these sprung from the
Puritan and Cavalier; — that they could not exist
side by side; — that the Civil War was a crucible in
which these elements were fused, that they might be
recast into a better civilization; — that Stonewall
Jackson was the genius who presided over the for-
tunes of the war until the elements were fused; —
that when the elements were fused. Jackson, in the
Providence of God, was removed, the tide of war
turned, disunion died, and "The Nation under God
had a new birth of freedom." With Wendling the
Civil W'ar hinged on Stonewall Jackson. You will
recall Whittiers lines : —

"We wait beneath the furnace blast,
The pangs of transformation,
Not painlessly doth God recast
And mould anew the Nation."

Or yet again would you say, as is often averred
in history, that the turning point of the Great Civil
War was the Battle of Gettysburg? Or as was
asserted, without regard to history, by an unctuous
preacher who said in a burst of eloquence, "The
Battle of Gettysburg was the turning point in the
Great Rebellion. When General Grant was leading
the Union Army to the bloody field, President Lin-
coln registered a solemn vow that if God would
give victory to the Union arms, he would at once
issue the Emancipation Proclamation, and set every
bondman in the Country free. And when Sheridan
with a terrible oath leaped his horse over the
Bloody Angle the shackles fell from fourteen mil-
lion slaves."

PAGE THREE

THE OBJECT OF THIS MANUAL.

Our object in writing this little manual is to show
that the tide in our Great Civil War hinged, not on
the Emancipation Proclamation, not on the death
of General Jackson, not on the Battle of Gettysburg,
but upon an appeal for succor which was made to
Almighty God through Jesus Christ when the nation
was ready to perish; an appeal in which the Senate
and Abraham Lincoln and the loyal people of the
North united. We do not hesitate to say, that upon
that National Confession of Almighty God and of
his Son, the Prince and Mediator, the very existence
of our Republic in that dark hour was suspended.
It is written, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the
ground and die, it abideth alone." Joseph, envied
and hated, was sold to the Ishmaelites and drifted
for years from sight, but he reappeared in the second
chariot of the Egyptian Empire. Elijah P. Lovejoy
lay for many years in a neglected grave, but the State
of Illinois has built for him one of her costliest
monuments. When John Brown was hanged on
December 2nd, 1859, the American people little
dreamed that he was born unto immortality. It
was more than a score of years after the dedication
of the Cemetery at Gettysburg before the people
came to realize that Lincoln's address at the dedica-
tion was a classic. Our unwritten chapter relating
to Abraham Lincoln and Jesus Christ was a corn
of wheat, which fell into the ground and died. The
hour for its new life is come. The Unwritten Chap-
ter has to do with the National Confession of Christ
the Mediator, made by a resolution of the United
States Senate, on March 2nd, 1863 ; in which Presi-
dent Lincoln concurred in his fast day proclamation
of March 30th; and in which the loyal people joined

PAGE FOUR

in celebrating a day of fasting and prayer on April
30th. This unwritten chapter makes plain that
there is a name which must be above every name.
It gives the key to Lincoln's immortality. It tells
the story of how our Nation was saved in the hour
of her extremity by the intervention of the God of
Hosts, who had been sought in His appointed way,
through Jesus Christ. The lesson of the Unwritten
Chapter is that there never can be any solution of
the Drink Problem until Our Lord and King be
duly recognized.

A VISAGE MARRED.

The Historian writes from the human viewpoint.
Politics is materialistic. History is forever secular.
Scores of histories have been written which cover
more or less fully the life of Abraham Lincoln, yet
no one among them all gives the facts of the Un-
written Chapter. The historians have left the facts
to the prophets and the seers. But the prophets of
this generation have not been see-ers.

Nations, like men, have their dark hours; hours
of peril and perplexity ; hours of extremity and woe.
Such an hour was that of the Kingdom of Judah
when Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh came to
Jerusalem from Sennacherib with an insolent demand
for the surrender of the Capitol. In the presence of
the conquerer and his veteran host, Hezekiah was
as helpless as an infant. At such an hour he put on
sackcloth and went up to the House of the Lord
and spread the letter of the Conquerer before Jeho-
vah and shrank for refuge into the shadow of Him
who dwelt between the Cherubims. The shelter of
Shechinah was the undoing of Sennacherib.

Such an hour of extremity and darkness and woe
came to the American Republic and its President

PAGE FIVE

during the months of increasing gloom which span-
ned the period from the mid-year of '62 to Indepen-
dence Day, 1863. Few men of to-day realize how
near, in the first fateful months of '6*3, our beloved
Nation came to her destruction. In the biography
of Judge James Harlan, who presented the resolu-
tion in the Senate with which our Unwritten Chapter
has to do, there is a chapter on, ''The Years of
Gloom.'' Eugene Chafin, after a title of him who,
"Tasted death for every man," has called Abraham
Lincoln, the "Man of Sorrows." And perhaps aside
from Him ''Who bore our griefs and carried our
sorrows,'' no man in the world's eventful history has
borne the title so fittingly. Some men are men of
talent. Some have magnetic power. Some are
gifted with rare genius. But Lincoln was the man
of heart. He bore the grief of his Nation, and like
his Lord, "His visage was so marred more than
any man," The Unwritten Chapter will reveal
how Abraham Lincoln and his counsellors, in the
darkest hour our country ever knew, shrank like
Hezekiah the King, and Isaiah the Son of Amoz and
Shebna the Scribe into the shadow of the God of
all the Earth.

CHAPTER II.

THE OMINOUS OPENING

or

A Brief Anna! of the First Months of the War.

The annal of these first months of the war are
common history. They pave the way to the Unwritten
Chapter. When Abraham Lincoln took his seat on
March 4th, '61. our country was rent into three

PAGE SIX

great factions. The loyal people had elected Mr.
Lincoln president. A great faction was opposed to
his administration. A third great faction was seced-
ing from the Union and taking up arms against it.
The second of these factions lent not a little com-
fort to the elements in rebellion. The task of
Abraham Lincoln was to wage a great war with
enemies in front and with bitter opponents in his
rear. At the break of day on April 12th, 1861,
Fort Sumter was fired on. In July, '61, the real
war opened.

On July 16th, General McDowell with 29,000
men, moved out from Washington. The Army
leasurely advanced. The enemy retired. At length
the Army of Beauregard was found, some thirty
miles or more southwest of Washington, posted on
the wooded hills of Bull Run — fateful name —
three miles from Centerville. On Lord's Day morn-
ing, July 21, the Army in three divisions moved
upon the foe. Up to this hour, the North would not
believe that a great civil war was on. The march
from Washington had been like a holiday. A cloud
of visitors on foot, in saddle or in carriage followed
the army, as to a picnic jaunt, eager to see a battle.
For once curiosity had enough. From ten till three,
in summer heat and stifling battle smoke, the bat-
tle raged. For one brief hour the Union men were
victors. But Jackson was there, who sprung into
fame that day as ''Stonewall Jackson." And fresh
troops of Johnson came up like a whirlwind and
swept the field. Our tired forces were routed, and
thrown into panic and rolled back like a mob toward
the capital. When order was restored the roll call
told of 2800 men who were wounded or missing or
numbered with the slain. What a wail of sorrow

PAGE SEVEN

swept the land ! The Nation had been rudely awak-
ened. And now amid the gloom the spectre of a
dreadful war appeared. For more than ten score
years we had upheld the crime of Slavery. The
Nation had transgressed. With her first born she
now must make atonement. For every drop of
blood drawn by the lash, and for every bead of
'sweat of unrequited toil, we were now to pay the
utmost farthing. The dream of easy peace had
faded.

THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN.

For nine long months enlistments and organiza-
tions and drill dragged on and on. McClelland was
a lion in his camp. In the field he was less terrible.
Now it is April '62. With his last excuse for in-
action exhausted the Army of the Potomac moves.
Sweeping with a fleet of transports down the Chesa-
peake the army is landed upon the Peninsula. With
the York river on the right, the James upon the
left, the Army creeps timidly toward Richmond.
Better men never went to any field, but there were
Quaker ^uns at Yorktown, and with McClelland,
discretion was the better part of valor. Johnson was
there to dispute the way at first and later Lee and
Jackson. And there was fighting. Williamsburg
was fought and Seven Pines and Mechanicsville
and Gain's Mill and Frazier Farm and Savage
Station and Malvern Hill. The Army has swung
round and back to Harrison's Landing, nearly where
it started. The Army has lost in killed and wound-
ed and missing, not far from 20,000 men. It has lost
52 cannons. It has lost 35,000 stand of arms Amid
the July heat nearly 17,000 soldiers are burning
with fevers in the army hospitals. About 4,000
men are absent without leave. Our grand army on

PAGE EIGHT

which we so counted is a baffled, decimated mob o£
sun-browned men, weary, disheartened and battle-
worn. Thrice ten thousand homes are in suspense
and sorrow. The public debt is mounting up and
up. The gloom has deepened.

POPE COMES FROM THE WEST.

General Pope had some repute as a fighter. Sum-
moned from the West, his duty was to cover Wash-
ington and to support McClelland. Marching to
the South from Washington, 70,000 men were con-
centrated under his command. Lee in sublime con-
tempt of McClelland, left the Peninsula to meet this
new army. Pope did some plucky fighting between
the Rappahannock and the Rapidan, and then with-
drew behind the former river. Stonewall Jackson
was there. He had 25,000 men. Now he executes
one of those swift marches, and launches one of
those dread blows which made him famous. Alex-
ander the Great, from his swift marches and fierce
assaults, is represented in the symbols of Daniel's
dream, as a leopard with four wings.
But Alexander never had an army that
could move so swift or strike so hard as that of
Stonewall Jackson. Sweeping up the Rappahannock,
till the Bull Run mountains are between him and
Pope, he turns to the north and screened from view
by the mountains, passed Pope's army, charged like
a tornado through Thoroughfare Gap upon Pope's
rear, captured his base of supplies ; and alas for the
havoc he wrought at Bristow Station and Manassas
Junction! The very flames were surfeited and
slept in smouldering piles of supplies and muni-
tions of war. What a revel had Jackson's men
among the spoils ! And when Pope's fretted army
turned about it found Lee and Longstreet in its

PAGE NINE

rear. And there on August 29th and 30th, '62, we
met another Waterloo. It was our second battle of
Bull Run. The next day, September 1st, Pope had
to fight the battle of Chantilly, amid a raging thun-
derstorm to open the way for his retreat to Wash-
ington, only 20 miles away. And there amid the
battle and the storm Phil Kearney, who had lost
an arm in Mexico 12 years before, and Isaac Stev-
ens, were numbered with our heroic dead.

It was in this campaign that Stuart crossed the
Rappahannock at Waterloo, and on a rainy night
with 1500 mounted men stole upon Pope's head-
quarters ; captured his Quartermaster, his tent and
letters and uniform. With these the next day he
turned Pope's slogan, "On to Richmond," into cruel
ridicule. His men took a burly negro. They decked
him in Popes's uniform. They put a placard, on his
back, "On to Richmond,'' and sent him into the
Union camp. Had Bonaparte been in McClelland's
saddle, when Lee left Richmond to meet Pope on
the Rapidan, he would have taken Richmond, chased
after Lee and ground him to powder between the
upper and nether millstones on the Rapidan. But
McClelland was no Bonaparte. The campaign of
Pope in seven brief weeks of summer had cost us
millions in supplies and mules and horses and muni-
tions of war. Twenty thousand rifles were taken,
and guns, a staggering number. Our killed and
wounded and missing numbered 14,500, and many
thousands more straggled from the army that never
returned. And the public debt mounted up and up.
The homes which were bowed in sorrow multiplied
and denser settled the gloom.

LEE DREAMED A DREAM.

It is not strange that unvarying success should

PAGE TEN

set Lee to dreaming dreams. He will invade
Maryland. A victory on her soil will draw her into
secession. It might open the way to the capture
of Baltimore or Washington. A big victory would
impel a recognition of the Confederacy. Recogni-
tion would lift the embargo on Southern ports. It
would stiffen the Southern credit. A big stake
loomed up in Lee's dream. If any man on earth
could make a dream come true that man was Lee.
Swift as an avalanche he hurled his left, under
Jackson, upon Harper's Ferry. Jackson knew how
to deal a blow. On September 15th, '62, the strong-
hold fell. Standards were captured and 15,000 rifles.
Seventy-three pieces of artillery were taken, and
12,500 prisoners of war, and all with little loss.
With Jackson time was everything and now he hur-
ries away to join Lee, who has gone on to Antietam.
In order to hold McClelland off, Lee worked a
brilliant bluff, and so gained time till Jackson came.
Late in the afternoon of September 16th, the battle
opened with fierce determination. It raged next
day. Antietam was one of the bloodiest battles of
the war. A victory was claimed by both sides. We
claimed it because we held the field, because Lee had
to withdraw beyond the Potomac, and because he
failed of his great stake. The Rebels claimed An-
tietam because with an army a third smaller than
our own they gave us an even battle, because they
had outpointed us in strategy and because their
losses in the Maryland campaign were not half so
great as ours. As if to prove that Antietam was not
a Union victory, Lee 23 days later ordered Stuart
back with 1800 saddles across the Potomac. This
bold commander raided into Pennsylvania, captur-
ed and paroled scores of sick and wounded prison-

PAGE ELEVEN

ers, destroyed 5000 rifles, burned trains, and depots
of supplies, and rode away leading hundreds of
horses, driving herds of army cattle, circling Mc-
Clelland's army, and recrossing the Potomac with-
out one missing man. The Maryland campaign did
little to brighten our prospects in the war. More
than 2000 were killed at Antietam. We had 9,500
wounded. A thousand men and more were missing.
AVe had lost in the campaign 12,500 prisoners of

Avar. What these figures meant to the homes of the

loyal North cannot be told.

''Oh war, cruel war, thou dost pierce the heart with un-
told sorrows, as well as thy' bleeding- victims with death!"

CHAPTER III

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION— A BLOW
DEALT AS A MEASURE OF WAR.

Abraham Lincoln was not an Abolitionist. Under
date of August 19, 1862, Horace Greeley addressed
an open letter to the President in the New York
Tribune. The caption of the letter was, "The Pray-
er of Twenty Millions." To this letter Mr. Lin-
coln replied by telegraph, on August 22. In this
message he said : —

"My paramount object is to save the Union, and not
either to save or to destroy slavery." If I could save
the Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it. And
if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone,
I would also do that,"

But just one month after these words sped the
wire the Emancipation Proclamation was made.
The Proclamation did not put slavery in the cata-
logue of crimes, nor base its abolition on grounds of
righteousness. It was not to take effect until Jan-
uary 1, 1863, one hundred days after it was issued.

PAGE TWELVE

It was not to apply to any territory not in rebellion
on that date against the Government of the United
States. The Proclamation of the President on
January 1, '63, exempted from its operation the
border slave States- — Delaware, Maryland, Ken-
tucky, Tennessee and Missouri, which had not
seceded from the Union. It did not apply to West
Virginia, which had seceded from Secession, but
had not been admitted to the Union. There were
seven counties of Virginia and the cities of Nor-
folk and Portsmouth and sixteen parishes in
Lousiana, including the city of New Orleans, to
which Emancipation did not apply. When Moses
came upon the ground to lead Israel out of bondage,
he said to Phahaoh, ''There shall not a hoof be left
behind." The Emancipation Proclamation did not
So deal with Pharaoh. It did not regard the Divine
proscription against "Man-stealing," nor deal with
slavery as a sin against the Almighty, or as a crime
against humanity. It therefore gave no warrant
upon God's promise, nor offered any ground on
which to appeal for Divine succor.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN DESERTED.

In the fall of '6St the public discontent grew
apace. The doubtful successes and the disastrous
failures of the army, the mounting upward of the
public debt, the pressure of taxes, the impotency of
the Government, the favor of foreign powers to-
ward the Confederacy, and the multiplied sorrows
of our Northern homes, bred a state of public mind
that was ominous. Treasonable agitators like Val-
andingham and Hendricks and Corning and a cloud
of others, censured the administration, decried the
war as a failure, lent courage to the enemy, spoke
in contempt of our leaders, jaundiced the public

PAGE THIRTEEN

credit, and aroused insistent discontent. Like the
roar of a winter storm brewing upon the mountains,
was the disaffection as the elections of 1862 ap-
proached. And those elections ! What an hour for
an administration travailing in pain to bring forth
a new Nation! New York by a majority of nearly
1 1.000 defeated loyal Governor Morgan, and elected
Horatio Seymour. New Jersey gave Joel Parker,
a copperhead, a majority of nearly 15,000 for Gov-
ernor, and turned down the patriot Olden. Penn-
sylvania, despite the fact that Andrew G. Curtain,
a tower of strength to Lincoln, sat in the Govern-
or's chair, gave the opposition candidate a majority
of 3,500 votes. Ohio defeated the administration
by 5,500 and lent endorsement to Yalandingham.
Indiana cast a majority of nearly 10,000 votes
against Lincoln's administration, and gave Tom
Hendricks inner joy. Illinois, the President's own
State, cast 16,500 votes of a majority against her
most illustrious son. In Michigan and Iowa and
Wisconsin and Minnesota was such a slump in the
vote cast two vears before for the President as
voiced a pitiful want of confidence. Even one in four
of the soldiers voting in the field voted against the
administration. The ten great loyal States which
had rolled up a majority of more than 208,000 when
Lincoln was made President, now cast a majority
of nearly 36,000 against him. The States which
two years before sent 78 representatives to the lower
House to uphold the administration to 37 against
it, now send only 57 to uphold the President as
against 67 returned against him. The opponents in
his rear had dealt the honest President a harder
blow than the armed foes in front. The clamor
which filled the land against "Shedding priceless

PAGE FOURTEEN

blood for worthless niggers," had done its work.
The policy of Lincoln was disapproved. The
Emancipation Proclamation was repudiated. On
such a vote an English premier would have resign-
ed on election night. "Two woes are past. Behold
another cometh quickly !"

GRASPING FOR HELP.

Not yet had Abraham Lincoln and his advisors
come to realize that the Almighty rules in the af-
fairs of men and nations, and that He must be
sought in His appointed way. Dazed by the blow
of his opponents, the President reached out for
help. From some whither must come some strong
hand to steady the trembling pillars of the Republic.
Burnsides was big, and humble and brave and true
as he was big in body; but his genius was not to
initiate and lead, but to execute commands. He
knew his limits. His self-distrust was the augury
of his defeat. How was a self-distrusting man to
meet Lee, emboldened by victories, behind his ram-
parts on the Rappahannock? But Burnsides must
move. His was "The Mud March'' to Fredericks-
burg. On December 13, '62, a brave and desperate
assault was made upon Lee's strongholds, which
frowned down upon the Rappahannock where with
onward sweep she meets the tide. But the army that
could cross the deep lying river under those ram-
parts and storm and take them, had not been born.
It was only soldiers of Spartan valor who stormed
that day the Stonewall and Marye's Heights and
those stern river bluffs. And O, what a day of
slaughter ! Fifteen thousand wounded, mangled,
killed, are strewn upon those hills. Within 40 yards
of bristling guns, the dead are piled. Alas for the
mothers of the North who waited for tidings, as

PAGE FIFTEEN

the mother of Sisera waited at her lattice! Major
George D. Bayard, scarce more than a boy, with
leave of absence to be wedded at the Christmas
time, fell that day. And alas for the maidens who
waited like his. for lovers who were never to re-
turn ! And alas for Abraham Lincoln, when the
c< ^respondent of the London Times voiced from
Lee's headquarters the prejudice of his Nation:

"Fredericksburg, a memorable day for the future histor-
ian of the decline and fall of the American Republic!"

Had not the God of the Pilgrim Fathers held some
higher destiny for our Nation, the blood of Fred-
ericksburg would have left her desolate. Like Judah
in Hezekiah's day, she was left now without any
earthly refuge.

"The tumult and the shouting dies,
The Captains and the Kings depart; —
Still stands thine ancient sacrifice, —
An humble and a contrite heart,
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget — lest we forget!"

Far-called our navies melt away, —
On dune and headland sinks the fire, —
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget — lest we forget!"

CHAPTER IV

THE MONTHS OF GLOOM.

A Darkness That Could be Felt.

On September 13th, '6£L two days before the sur-
render of Harper's Ferry, ministers of Chicago
visited the White House to insist upon the immediate

PAGE SIXTEEN

emancipation of the slaves. To these ministers the

President replied : —

"I do not want to issue a document that the whole world
will see must necessarily be inoperative, like the Pope's
bull against the comet."

But the very thing had happened which Abraham
Lincoln sought to avoid. Emancipation was des-
tined to go into effect, only 18 days after the bloody
disaster of Fredericksburg. Well might the Presi-
dent have taken up the wail of Hezekiah : —

"This day is a day of trouble and of rebuke and of
blasphemy; for the children are come to the birth and
there is not strength to bring forth."

Darker days have seldom brooded over any land
than our dark days of '63. The Army of the Po-
tomac at the seat of war had met many and grave
disasters. The whole land was burdened with
taxes, stricken with untold griefs, and harrowed by
sentiments of treason. The public debt had mounted
up and up until it had become a nightmare. On Feb-
ruary 2nd, '63, the public credit had reached the
lowest point touched that year, and lower than any
hitherto in the history of the Republic, Many regi-
ments in the army of the Potomac had not received
a cent of pay in six months. Beaten and decimated
and penniless, the Army of the Potomac now under
Hooker, had lost its morale and 200 men were de-
serting every day. The Confederate press vaunted
the prowess of the Confederate leaders, was exult-
ant over repeated victories, and was insistent upon
foreign recognition. The spirit of the Northern
press and people can well be gauged by a letter of
Horace Greeley, written to the President four days
after the battle of Gettysburg, in which he said: —

"I venture to remind you that the bleeding, bankrupt,
almost dying country longs for peace."

PAGE SEVENTEEN

THE INTRIGUE OF NAPOLEON,

The repudiation of ten loyal States was ominous
enough. But our greatest menace in those dark

o o

hours was the ambition and intrigue of Napoleon
III of France. The Emperor of France was well
gifted with the ambitions of his uncle, the great
Napoleon. Of the genius of the latter he had none.
Napoleon III could not but remember that 60 years
before, when his illustrious uncle was at war with
England, Jefferson and Madison had dealt him
out of the Louisana Purchase, a territory five times
as large as the French Empire. The great Napoleon
had a dream of a great Latin Empire on the Amer-
ican Continent. Napoleon III revived the dream,
and thought to found an Empire tributary to his
own. Mexico as she is now, was rent with revo-
lution. Our hands were tied by Civil war. Na-
poleon landed an army at Vera Cruz. William H.
Seward, our Secretary of State, warned the Em-
peror. The warning was insolently ignored. [Maxi-
milian, Arch Duke of Austra, was groomed for
the throne of Mexico. An assembly of notables,
seven days after the battle of Gettysburg, tendered
him the crown. Napoleon was eager to interpose
an independent Confederacy between the American
Republic and his new Empire. The fates favored
his ambitions. The Confederacy was eager for his
support. Maximilian was of the House of Haps-
burg, which invited Spain's good will. Napoleon
had strongly supported Pope Pius IN against the
Republican trend of Italy, and could now count on
his support. The Emperor could pledge to safe-
guard the interests of the English in Mexico. And
Gladstone and the ruling classes of Great Britian
were in heart with the Confederacy. The lines of

PAGE EIGHTEEN

Napoleon's schemes were deeply laid and waited
i >nly the crowning of Maximillian. The peril of the
American Republic was imminent.

The wonder is that Abraham Lincoln endured.
With treason exultant; with the spirit of the army
broken ; with our debt towering like a mountain :
with our credit almost prostrate; with his adminis-
tration deserted ; with the powers in intrigue against
ns ; the good President's face took a cast more sad
and sallow, and his shoulders stooped a little more.
He was what Charm called him /'The Man of Sor-
rows," and like the man of sorrows, "His visage
was so marred more than any man." On June 12th.
1914. former Vice President Fairbanks stood with
three Governors at the grave of Lincoln's mother, at
Lincoln City, Indiana. The three represented and
spoke for the State of Lincoln's birth, the State of
his boyhood, and the State of his mature years.
There speaking for the Nation, Mr. Fairbanks
said : —

"In these days of anxiety for the future, it is well to
recall the unwearying patience, the sublime faith and the
loyalty of Abraham Lincoln to the cause of the Union;
his confidence in the virtue of the Republican Govern-
ment and his trust in the ultimate judgment of the Ameri-
can people."

CHAPTER V.

THE UNWRITTEN CHAPTER OPENS.

Note Now Where the Great War Hinged.

In a recent number of the Saturdav Evening
Post, President Woodrow Wilson said: —

"I challenge you to cite me an instance in all the his-
tory of the world where liberty was handed down from
above. Liberty always is attained by the forces working
below, underneath, by the great movement of the people.*

PAGE NINETEEN

Truer words were never uttered. Every upward
movement comes from the common people. Every
Godward movement from the humble walks of life.
The reformer, as the rule, comes from the humble
folk or rises from obscurity. The Scriptures read : — -
"For ye see your calling brethren, how that not many
wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many
noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
and base things of the world, and things which are de-
spised hath God chosen; yea and things which are nought
to bring to nought things that are; that no flesh should
glory in his presence."

The Godward movement of 1863, in which the
gloom which rested upon the country lifted, began
on the stricken hearthstones of the people. The
writer could not. if he would, efface the memory
of the faltering prayers of the family altar, when
the suspense of troubled months brought no word
from a sturdy soldier boy, save that he was missing ;
nor can he forget the mother sobs and sister tears
which answered to these cryings of the heart. That
this spirit of the Nation should seek a way to utter
itself was but natural. Two conventions were
held. They were in no wise related. The first met
at Xenia, Ohio, on the 3rd of February, '63, the day
after the public credit had reached its lowest ebb.
The other met at Sparta, Illinois, on February
6th. The rod of chastening had brought the Nation
to her senses. The convention at Sparta adopted
a pledge : —

"To labor to bring the Nation to repentance toward God.
and to a faithful administration of the Government ac-
cording to the principles of the Word of God."

Two days before. John Alexander, a layman of
Xenia, presented to the convention in session a
paper in which the sins of the Xation were confess-

PAGE TWENTY

eel, and which insisted on repentance and reforma-
tion. A sentence of this paper reveals the spirit of
the convention : —

"We regard the neglect of God and His law, by omitting
all acknowledgement of them in our Constitution as the
crowning original sin of the Nation, and slavery as one
of its natural outgrowths."

The National Reform Association, organized at
Pittsburgh, January 27th, '64, sprang from the
loins of this convention. There were no historic
characters at it. The brilliant pulpits were not in ev-
idence. The leading spirits, John Alexander, Rev.
Samuel Collins, Dr. H. H. George, were men of
the common people. But their work will endure : —

"Till the stars grow old,

And the sun grows cold,

And the leaves of the Judgment book unfold.

WHEN CHRIST CAME TO THE SENATE.

It was but a little time until the spirit of the Xenia
convention had reached the National Capitol. Only
26 davs after a night of fervent prayer and tense
discussion at Xenia, there was such a session of the
United States Senate-, on March 2nd, '63, as the
Recording Angel marks. In the night visions of
Daniel, one in white arrav stood with uplifted
hands upon the river. Even such a one is standing
now at the door of the Senate chamber. Had he
found the spirit of the Senate like the revel of Bel-
shazzar's lords, he would have written on the wall.
But instead, to those Senators, broken in spirit, the
Angel of Providence had a message : —

"Be it known to you, 0 men, that Almighty God rules
in the affairs of men and Nations: — that no people how-
ever great in wealth or number can prosper without His
favor:— that 'The Father judgeth no man but hath commit-
ted all judgment unto the Son that all men should honor
the Son even as they honor the Father.' He stood before

"P A G E T WENTY-0 N E

the Senate chamber to say of the Child that was born, of
the Son that was given: — 'The Government shall be upon
His shoulder.' 'His name shall be called Wonderful;' 'His
dominion shall be from sea to sea.' 'He must reign until
He hath put all enemies under His feet/ 'On His head
are many crowns;' 'And on His vesture and on His thigh
a name is written. King of Kings and Lord of Lords.' —
"Be wise now, therefore, O ye Kings; be instructed ye
Judges of the Earth;' Hath not God said, 'The Nation
and Kingdom that will not serve Thee shall perish, yea
those Nations shall be utterly wasted?' "

And that clay the Senate heard. The partridge in
its fright flees to the brake. In like manner there
is an intuition in the human soul which impels men
to "Flee as a bird to their Mountain.'' As Hezekiah

in dread of Sannacherib shrank into the shelter of
Jehovah, so did the United States Senate and Abra-
ham Lincoln shrink into the shadow of Him whose
name is "above every name." Senator Harlan, of
Iowa, arose in the Senate chamber and presented
the folio wing resolution. This resolution is in keep-
ing with the dignity, the high patriotism, and the
devoted spirit of the man who offered it:

THE HARLAN RESOLUTION.

"'RESOLVED, That, devoutly recognizing the supreme
authority and just government of Almighty God in the
affairs of men and of Nations, and sincerely believing
that no people, however great in numbers and resources
or however strong in the justice of their cause, can pros-
per without His favor, and at the same time deploring
the National offenses which provoked His righteous judg-
ment, yet encouraged, in this day of trouble, by the as-
surance of His word, to seek Him for succor according to
His appointed way, through Jesus Christ, the Senate of
the United States do hereby request the President of the
United States by his proclamation to designate and set
apart a day for National prayer and humiliation, request-
ing all the people of the land to suspend their secular
pursuits and unite in keeping the- day in solemn communion

PAGE TWENTY-TWO

with the Lord of Hosts, supplicating Him to enlighten
the counsels and direct the policy of the rulers of the
Nations and to support the soldiers, sailors and marines,
and whole people in the firm discharge of duty, until the
existing rebellion shall be overthrown and the blessing of
peace restored to our bleeding country."

JUDGE JAMES HARLAN OF IOWA.

Author of the Senate Resolution "Devoutly Recognizing'
the Supreme Authority of Almighty God and the
Mediation of Jesus Christ the King of
Nations.

CAN it be that such a resolution passed in the
United States Senate? It passed next day with no-
dissenting voice. Did the Senate indeed resolve,
that, "No people however great in numbers and re-

PAGE TWENTY-THKEE

sources, or however strong in the justice of their
cause can prosper without the. Divine favor?" Did
the Senate say, "Encouraged in this day of trouble
by the assurance of His word to seek Him for suc-
cor in His appointed way, through Jesus Christ?"
Even so the Senate said. What Senate so resolved?
The Senate of the 37th Congress; the greatest de-
liberate body that ever sat in any chamber, clime or
country. Why say ye so? Well, pause and think.
How many members of the present Senate will have
a place in history? Penrose or Smoot, think you?
What Sanhedrim or Roman Senate or Parliament
had immortals, even half a score ? But call the roll
of the illustrious Senate which so honored Christ
the Lord. Judge James Harlan of Iowa, Lyman
Trumbull of Illinois, Henry S. Lane of Indiana,
Zachariah Chandler of Michigan, Benjamin F.
Wade and John Sherman of Ohio, David Wilmot of
Pennsylvania, Charles Sumner of Massachusetts,
assaulted in the Senate chamber May 22, '56 ; Henry
Wilson and John P. Hale of Vermont, the same
Hale who carried his State against slavery by the
"Hale storm" of 1845 ; William Pitt Fessenden of
Maine, and Lot M. Morrill elected to fill the seat
which Hannibal Hamlin left vacant when made Vice
President ; and Hamlin presiding over all. When in
the world's eventful history sat any body with so
many immortal names ? Never in human history was
Jesus the King so honored as when this Senate set
Him forth in the sight of all Nations of the Earth
as the Mediator between our Nation and our Na-
tion's God.

PAGE TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER VI.

THE MAN AND SENATE.

Abraham Lincoln's full Concurrence.

Could Abraham Lincoln, whom some say was a
Deist, approve of such a resolution? Here is the
man and here is his proclamation. Let him speak
for himself:- —

"WHEREAS, The Senate of the United States, devoutly
recognizing the supreme authority and just government
of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and Nations,
has by a resolution requested the President to designate
and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation,
and whereas, it is the duty of Nations as well as of men to
own their dependence upon the overruling power of God,
to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sor-
row, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will
lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime
truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by

PAGE TWENTY-FIVE

all history, that those Nations only are blessed whose
God is the Lord.

And, insomuch as we know that by His divine law
'nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and
chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear
that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates
the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for
our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our National
reformation as a whole people?

We have been the recipents of the choicest bounties of
heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace
and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and
power as no other Nation has ever grown. But we have
forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand
which preserved us in peace and multiplied and en-
riched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined,
in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings
were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of
our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success we have
become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming
and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that
made us.

It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the of-
fended power, to confess our National sins, and to pray
for clemency and forgiveness. Now, therefore, in com-
pliance with the request, and fully concurring in the views
of the Senate, I do by this my proclamation designate and
set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day
of National humiliation, fasting and prayer. And I do
hereby request all the people to abstain on that day
from their ordinary secular pursuits, and to unite in their
.several places of public worship and their respective
homes in keeping the day holy to the Lord and devoted to
the humble discharge of the religious duties proper to that
solemn occasion.

All this being done in sincerity and truth, let us then
rest humbly in the hope authorized by the divine teach-
ings that the united cry of the Nation will be heard on
high and answered with blessings no less than the pardon
of our National sins and the restoration of our now divided
and suffering country to its former happy condition of
unity and peace.

PAGE TWENTY-SIX

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and
caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this 30th day of March,
A. D. 1863, and of the Independence of the United States
the eighty-seventh.

By the President, ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State."

The most sublime; and certainly the most pathetic

thing in the annals of our Republic, was Abraham

Lincoln, sitting amid the Nation's woes with the

resolution of the Senate before him, and with the

sad and sallow face which bespoke the "Man of

Sorrows," writing :- —

"It is the duty of nations as well as men to own their
dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess
their sins in humble sorrow, ...... and to recognize the

sublime truth announced in Holy Scripture and proven
by all history, that only those nations are blessed whose
God is the Lord:" — "It behooves us, then, to humble our-
selves before the offended Power, to confess our National
sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness." "Now,
therefore, in compliance with the request and fully con-
curring in the views of the Senate, I do by this my pro-
clamation, &c"

Was this proclamation a mere form ? O, no, no !
Look at the tenor of it. Such words could only
come from a heart broken and contrite. Amid the
chastening of the Nation the President had become
a man of prayer. But the last test of sincerity is to
obey.

"Behold to obey is better than sacrifice.1' Will the
President and Senate and the Nation now obey?
Slavery was the sin of the Nation. It was a "Throne
of iniquity" in which all other evils centered. Up
till this hour Emancipation was only a "war meas-
ure." It did not apply to slave States not in rebel-
lion, nor to such counties or parishes of the Seces-

PAGE TWENTY-SEVEN

si on States as had yielded to our arms. It left thou-
sands of negroes in slavery. It rested on mere ex-
pediency. It had no regard for "Thus saith the
IvOrd." To hold slaves was still the privilege of
thousands.

But now a resolution was offered in the House.
It made the holding of men in involuntary servitude
to be a crime. It was in harmony with the eternal
fitness of things, that Owen Lovejoy, who more than
25 years before had witnessed the martyrdom of his
brother Elijah for his Abolition principles, should
now stand sponsor for the resolution which abol-
ished slavery. This resolution which made an ever-
lasting end of involuntary servitude save as a pen-
alty for crime, was adopted by the Senate on June
9th, 1863 ; concurred in by the House on June 17th,
and signed by the President on June 19th. This
resolution set the Nation right with God. A penitent
Republic had laid itself low before the throne of
Him whose name is "above every name."

CHAPTER VII.

THE UNSEEN HAND.

The Signal for the Turning of the Tide.

Skepticism is wont to say, "What profit is it that
we have kept his ordinances?" But the events of '63
silenced all unbelief. So far as the writer's investi-
gation goes, not one paper North or South mur-
mured at the Senate's resolution, or at Lincoln's
proclamation. The people's fast was a signal for
the turning of the tide. The unseen hand wrote in that
hour the doom of the great rebellion as plainly as
the hand that wrote "TEKEL" upon Belshazzar's
wall.

PAGE TWENTY-EIGHT

Two great issues hung in suspense upon the hour :
Human Slavery and the. Federal Union. Thirty-
three years before, in his reply to Haw, Daniel
Webster linked these issues in the memorable words,

"Liberty and union, now and forever, one and insepar-
able."

Abraham Lincoln said at the dedication of the

cemetery at Gettysburg on November 19, '63 ; with

graves of 3600 heroic dead around him, of which

more than a third were marked unknown :

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought
forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty
and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing
whether that Nation or any other Nation so conceived and
so dedicated can long endure."

Chief Justice Joseph Story, who had been sleep-
ing with his fathers for 18 years before Lincoln
uttered these words, had said : —

"We stand the latest and if we fail probably the
last experiment of self-government by the people."

If the Union endure, tyranny must die. If slavery
fall on American soil, that age old system must per-
ish everywhere. This was the great stake when the
Senate of '63 and Abraham Lincoln carried up
their cause ; as did Hezekiah and the elders. And
now, "Behold what God wrought."

Amid darkness as deep as ever brooded over a
nation, John Alexander, Samuel Collins, H. H.
George, and the Xenia convention, on February 3rd,
'63, prayed and deliberated over a national recogni-
tion of Christ the King until deep midnight. On
March 2nd the Senate adopted the Harlan resolu-
tion. On March 30th Abraham Lincoln issued his
proclamation of a fast. On April 30th the people
held "solemn communion with the Lord of Hosts."

PAGE TWENTY-NINE

On June 19th the President put his name to the bill
-which made an end of slavery. Then followed a lit-
tle period of dense darkness. Of it Horace Greeley
'wrote, "The ten days which preceded the battle of
Gettysburg were the darkest in our history.'' But
it was the darkness before a wondrous dawn.

THE "IDE OF WAR TURNS.

Now mark the swift turning of the tide. On
Thursday the people fasted. That Saturday night
Stonewall Jackson, worth more to Lee's army than
a score of regiments, the man as Wendling viewed
it on whom the whole war turned, was mortally
wounded at Chancellorsville. Chancellorville was
less a disaster than a providence, because that bat-
tle prompted Lee's invasion of the North. Thus was
it ordered that one of the most memorable battles
for human freedom in all time should be fought on
the soil of a loyal State ; that her's should be the
monumented field, the hallowed graves, the priceless
memorials. In two brief months after the people's
fast — in two brief weeks from the hour when the
signature of Lincoln made an end of slavery — ■
Gettysburg was fought and Vicksburg fell. The
Mississippi was flowing "unf retted to the sea." With
the loss of the fourth of his army, with a wagon
train of wrounded 17 miles in length, Lee in a pitiless
rain was retreating to the Potomac. As the great
news flashed over the land the gloom lifted. The
bells pealed. The cannon thundered. The glad ban-
ners waved. Amid the loyal rejoicing the intrigue
of Napoleon ended. The danger of foreign
intervention had vanished. And the hope of the Con-
federacy died. Napoleon had held back intervention
until Maximillian could be crowned. The fall of
Vicksburg and victory at Gettysburg seven days be-

PAGE THIRTY

fore the coronation ruined his program.

But are we to conclude that the life of the Nation,
and the fortunes of the great Civil War hinged upon
a National recognition of Almighty God as supreme
in the affairs of men and nations? And did the sav-
ing of the Nation turn upon her seeking Him for
succor in His appointed way through Jesus Christ?
Abraham Lincoln has settled that. Only 12 days
after Vicksburg fell and Gettysburg was won, he
proclaimed a great thanksgiving day. The instru-
ment was dated July 15. The day observed was
August 6th. In his proclamation the Great Common-
er said : —

"It has pleased Almighty God to hearken to the suppli-
cations and prayers of an afflicted people and to vouchsafe
to the arniy and the navy of the United States victories
on land and sea so signal and so effective as to furnish
reasonable grounds for augmented confidence that the
Union of these States will be maintained, their Constitu-
tion preserved, and their peace and prosperity permanently
restored."

"Thou, too, sail on, 0 ship of State!

Sail on, 0 Union, strong and great!

Humanity with all its fears,

With all its hopes of future fears,

Is hanging breathless on thy fate."

"Sail on nor fear to breast the sea,
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee.
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith triumphant o'er our fears
Are all with thee — are all with thee."

— H. W. Longfellow.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE LOST OPPORTUNITY.

Lone Watchmen on the Mount of Vision.

When James Harlan and Abraham Lincoln and

PAGE THTHTY-ONE

the Senate of '63 made humble acknowledgement of
Almighty God as supreme in the affairs of men and
nations, and when amid the perils of the Nation they
led the people "to seek Him for succor in His ap-
pointed way through Jesus Christ" — when they
made humble confession of the National offences
and in token of their sincerity blotted out the sin of
slavery — they came within but a little of enthroning
Him among the people whose name is called Won-
derful. O why did not men rise up in that hour and
make the name of Jesus Christ supreme, and write it
in their fundamental law ! How everything was ripe
for such a movement! How all things argued that
Christian men should act ! The people were chasten-
ed in spirit and ready. The Senate with no dissent-
ing voice had made humble confession of Almighty
God, of the Holy Scriptures, and of Jesus Christ as
the Nation's appointed way of reaching God for
succor. Abraham Lincoln in the sight of all the Na-
tions of the earth had proclaimed his full concur-
rence in the views of the Senate. Infidelity, atheism,
and every other opponent of Christ the King, was
awed into silence, while a smitten people looked to
the one and only [Mediator between God and the
Nation. The President and Congress had taken
such action as to slavery as honored the Great Crea-
tor who had made of one blood all them that dwell
on the earth. Great victories, which had turned the
tide of war, had followed the honoring of Almighty
God and the recognition of His Son as Christ and
[Mediator. Abraham Lincoln in a National proclama-
tion when the Nation was wild with joy. had ascrib-
ed our victories to the hearer of prayer from whom
had come deliverance. "There is a tide in the affairs
of men which taken at the flood leads on to fortune."

PAGE THIRTY-TWO

What an hour, to strike for Christ and His crown
rights! How could men miss such an opportunity!
We cannot but wonder at the stupidity of those who
call themselves the soldiers of the cross. Not long-
ago a distinguished Hebrew scholar said, "The
preachers of today seem to know all about the Bible,
save how to apply it." Prophets are many. The
seers are few. These stupid Christian men were the
same who had voted for slavery and with the parties
which for years had catered to and upheld that "sum
of villainies." Now. in their blindness, they let their
great hour pass. These are the stupid figures of a
formal church, who nine years later let the party
of Abraham Lincoln, which he had led so near to the
Kingdom, sell itself by covenant to the brewers, with
not a word of protest. These are the stupid fathers
of the recreant sons of the church of today, who
follow their fathers in blindness or perfidy, while
the Prince of Darkness votes them like sheep for
the traffic in strong drink. What a marvel in these
years of the 20th century, that lusty throated men
who have been singing the rousing hymn of Per-
ronet. "All hail the power of Jesus' name," for
nearly seven score years, have not the shadow of a
plan for the enthronement of Jesus in the Nation!
Two classes only have a clear cut program for the
enthronement of the King. One class is large, well
learned, well booked and titled. It has a taking-

o

plan. Its plan is to let the King of Nations come
and crown Himself. The other class comprises a
few lone and scattered watchmen.

THE MOUNT OF VISION.

Who are these lone and scattered watchmen on
the Mount of Vision? Who are the men who have a
plan for the enthronement of the King? Who are

PAGE THIRTY-THREE

the men who 50 years ago saw what , might have
been? They are John Alexander, David McAllister,
Samuel Collins, T. P. Stevenson, A. M. Milligan,
J. H. Mcllvaine, H. H. George, J. R. W. Sloan, and
such as these. These are the men who had a plan
for recognizing Jesus the Son of David as King
of the Nation. They have left it as a heritage to
their children. Their plan is to impress upon the
Nation the fact that "All rule and all Authority"
has been committed to the Son of God, and that He
must reign : — that we the people "do ordain and es-
tablish" and "provide" and "secure," but subject to
His supreme Authority — that His kingly rights and
claims must be recognized in the fundamental law
of our Republic; and that in the enactment and
enforcement of laws, reverent regard must be had to
His royal prerogative. To give effect to this lofty
purpose there must be a political party of high char-
acter which will make these principles a part of her
platform and pledge herself to make them Constitu-
tion and. law. As slavery could not exist in any Na-
tion worthy of the name when once the United
States had abolished it, just so no Nation can long
refuse to own the King of Nations when once our
Nation has owned His supreme Authority in her
fundamental law. The plan is to awaken the Nation
to a sense of her high destiny.

HOT FOR THE FORGE.

These scattered watchmen held a convention in
Pittsburgh on January 27, 1864. They struck when
the iron was ready for the forge. The convention
did three things. It organized the National Re-
form Association which is the vital center of the
greatest political movement on earth. It adopted
and addressed a memorial to the United States

PAGE THIRTY-FOUR

Congress. It sent a committee of 21 to the White
House to ask Abraham Lincoln to commend to
Congress action that would make permanent such
a recognition of the Nation's Supreme Ruler and
Mediator as the Senate and the President had al-
ready made. The chairman of the committee was
J. H. Mcllvaine, pastor at the time of High street
church of Newark, N. J. The committee called upon
the President on February 10. It stood in a semicir-
cle before him. The chairman's address was brief,
but most fit and masterful It set forth the object
of their Association and made its appeal to the
President. Abraham Lincoln listened with profound
attention. His reply to the committee, as remember-
ed and reported by H. H. George, one of its mem-
bers, was : —

"Gentlemen, you have come here on a great errand. We
are going through a terrible war to secure the rights of
men. The next step will be to acknowledge the rights of
God. And I, as soon as I see my way clear, will recom-
mend the same to Congress."

What an hour! What an opportunity! Where
now were the ten thousand times ten thousand who
have been singing, "All hail the power of Jesus'
name ?" Where were the multitudes which for four
score years had been shouting, "Bring forth the roy-
al Diadem ?" How was it that when the Senate with
no dissenting voice voted its devout recognition of
the Nation's Mediator: — that when the President
proclaimed his humble concurrence with its views —
that when the mouth of infidelity was stopped —
that when Vicksburg fell and Gettysburg was won —
that when the thrill of band and boom of cannon
and revel of banner and glad hand clap and the
tear-gush of joy blent in the Nation's rejoicing —
that when Abraham Lincoln stood reverently forth

PAGE THIRTY-FIVE

to proclaim that, "It has pleased Almighty God to
hearken to the supplications and prayers of an
afflicted people" — that there was no great movemeent
in the interests of Emanuel's crown? O why was it
that only a little remnant rose to the hour? What
fatuity ! What an hour that would have been to
"Bring forth the royal diadem !" When Johnson had
taken up a strong position behind the mountains at
Dalton, Sherman ordered McPherson to march by
way of Snake Creek valley. Ship's Gap, and the
forest screened roads of Villanow and strike the
Confederate rear. Had McPherson moved as
swift and struck as hard as Jackson would have
done, little would have been left for Johnson but
surrender. Sherman was vexed at the brave man's
failure, but only said, "General, a great opportuni-
ty only comes once in a lifetime." And it would
seem that the very angels must have heaved a sigh
in some such words when the Ransomed of the Lord
in America failed to rise to their hour.

CHAPTER IX.
SOME BRIEF ADENDA.

A Chapter in Fragments.

It has often been ru fully said that Abraham

Lincoln never made any confession of Christ. But

what man in 1800 years has made a confession

which so honored the world's Redeemer as when

Abraham Lincoln with the resolution of the Senate

before him, and with the eyes of all the earth upon

him, sent forth in proclamation the words : —

"It is the duty of Nations to recognize the sublime truth,
announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all his-
tory, that only those Nations are blessed whose God is
the Lord."

PAGE THIRTY-SIX

The great and grave issue of the Great Civil
War was, neither the Union nor Slavery, but wheth-
er the American Republic would own her Lord and
King. It is written, "That nation and that king-
dom which will not serve thee shall perish, yea,
those nations shall be utterly wasted. Here was
the issue upon which the Great Civil war hinged.
Had some Senator rose in his place and voted to
strike the name of Jesus Christ out of the Harlan
resolution; had the Senate voted for such an in-
dignity; had Abraham Lincoln written over such
act of perfidy, "Fully concurring in the views of
the Senate," the London Times would have had her
wish, and Fredericksburg would have been "A
memorable day for the future historian of the de-
cline and fall of the American Republic."

%. jJj :js sjc s|j ^s

The editor of the Venango Vindicator once wrote
of the proposed honoring of Christ the King of
Nations in the Prohibition platform and in the
Federal Constitution, "It would raise many grave
questions." And again he wrote, "We believe the
proposition to be out of harmony with that religious
liberty for which we have so long and so often
thanked God." But when the illustrious Senate of
'63 and Abraham Lincoln so honored Jesus Christ
in public proclamation, the lions which the objector
saw in the way proved not to be real lions, but only
tethered scare-crows at which men balk. When the
Senate by resolution said, "Yet encouraged in this
day of trouble by the assurance of His word, to
seek Him for succor in His appointed way, through
Jesus Christ;" and when Abraham Lincoln pro-
claimed, "Fully concurring in the views of the Sen-
ate;" and when God in His Almighty providence

PAGE THIRTY-SEV EN

set His seal by signal victories upon their deed, then
was every infidel and Jew and atheist in all the
land awed into silence. To honor Jesus Christ, as
the Senate of Hale and Harlan and Sumner did,
has ever been a grave question in any nation. But
to refuse to own Him has been the grave question
for many a party, State and throne.
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

To many, the kingdom of Jesus is an ethereal
thing, a sort of hazy sentimentalism. It goes well in
sacred song. It sounds natural in prayer. It is a
taking sentiment for pulpit. "In God we trust,"
will even pass on coin. But to declare for Christ's
crown rights in a party platform, to uphold His
scepter at the polls, to move to own His authority
in the fundamental law, is another matter. The ob-
jector quotes, "My kingdom is not of this
world." "The kingdom is within you." Even
so the kingdom is from above and is within. And
so is patriotism. But heaven pity your patriotism,
if it does not voice itself on election day, plead the
cause of the public weal at the ballot box, or should-
er a musket or give up a first-born in the hour of
your country's peril! And God pity your sickly
fealty to your Lord and King, if it do not move
you to honor Him in your party platform and bear
his name upon your heart within the polling booth !

:§; sjs :$: ;Js s§£ JJs

The Drink Problem is the gravest problem which
ever confronted the American people. The Rum
Power is one of the most gigantic conspiracies
which ever reared its crested head against the
Christ of Nations. The debauchee, the dead and
dreary churchman, the mammon server, the Sab-
bath hater, the white slaver, the political corrupter

PAGE THIRTY-EIGHT

are all in the conspiracy. It runs the country. It
controls the license parties. It has neutralized the
church. It is the overshadowing curse of the Nation,
Slavery had to be overthrown to save the Federal
Union. Leave the Rum Power go on and it will
destroy the Republic. We have serious work ahead.
And be it known to all men, that since Abraham
Lincoln and the great Congress of '63 could make
no progress in saving the Union, or in solving the
problem of slavery, until a humble confession was
made of Him who is called "Wonderful," that so
will it be again. We shall never solve the Drink
problem or overthrow the Rum Power until we
humbly confess and devoutly honor Him on whom
Almighty God has laid "Honor and Majesty.

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